Gulliville

Butchering Chickens

2011-01-12T10:18:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday the chickens were tried and convicted of being food.

I opted for the hatchet method as it seemed the most humane and fool proof for the inexperienced. It took much less power than I expected to sever the head and the chickens were more cooperative than I had thought they would be. All in all it was a quick an clean process. I still had an adrenaline rush that lasted several hours.

The plucking was tedious. Fortunately there were two other people there who were interested in keeping birds and wanted to get some experience. I scalded the birds in 150f degree water to loosen the feathers but I think the water had cooled off a bit by the time my bird was dunked. It was under 20f that day. Since I ended up skinning the birds and keeping the skin for stock I will probably be less picky about how clean of feathers the birds will be in the future.

For the actual butchering I found this web site to be extremely helpful.

http://butcherachicken.blogspot.com/2007/09/introduction.html

The first bird took a long time. Largely because we were fascinated with the anatomy aspect. The second bird was done in a few minutes. It had been at least 15 years since I prepared any kind of meat that still looked remotely like an animal. I was strangely comfortable with the process and it was not nearly as gross to me as plucking the feathers.

The next morning I ate my first flesh in 13-14 years. The livers were saved and fried with some eggs for breakfast. It was so flavorful that I had to eat small bites to keep from it being overpowering.

Now there are 3 frozen bird carcasses in my freezer ready for the crock pot. Some time in the next 2-3 weeks I'm going to have a chicken pot pie dinner/party and invite my friends over to celebrate this mile stone in my life.

HR875/S510

2010-12-08T11:20:00.000-08:00

I've been seeing a lot about The Food Safety Modernization Act going over the internet for the past couple of years. When people first started posting links to the actual verbiage of the law I read about half of it and did not see anything indicating the wild claims that were being made about it. The worst I saw was that it was written with vague language. Granted that vague means it can be interpreted a number of ways but I saw nothing that supported claims like farm animals being marked with GPS radio tags.

Since there seems to be no end to recirculating the claims about this bill I wanted to add a small (tiny really) piece of the internet dedicated to reason.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/organic.asp

This bill is not the problem! Our representatives being controlled by the business oligarchy while parading around as a republic is the problem. By the time the bill gets passed there will be a considerable amount of amendments that benefit the corporate food industry the bill is meant to regulate. This is America after all.

Harpoon

2010-10-29T13:20:00.000-07:00

House progress has been steady but not worth mentioning in a while. Finally grouted the fireplace, hung more drywall in the addition room, almost finished the drywall in the bathroom, made a room in the garage and hung drywall on it. Nothing is done though. However this isn't all about houses this is about projects and here is the latest.

I'm not a holiday person and definitely not a costume person so my Halloween costumes tend to be sparse and allow me to wear my regular pants. This year I'm going as a cetaphobe. Cetaphobia is the fear of whales (Cetacea being the order of marine mammals) and what better place for a cetaphobe than the mountains in the middle of a continent? Any way the costume will consist of carrying around a harpoon. Harpoons aren't the easiest to come by so making one out of scraps in the garage seemed the way to go.

First the haft. This is a piece of rough cut red oak left over from a table I made years ago. Through it through the planner, drilled a hole for the shaft, routed the sharp corners and put some boiled linseed oil on it.

Then the metal bits. The shaft is left over round stock from a treadle lathe that has been on the back burner for the last few years. The hook is from some sheet stock (14g?) left over from armor making days.

I forgot how to braze. After four attempts and a trip to the Depot I gave up and used silver solder. Maybe it was because the flux I was using was from my great grandfathers welding equipment? It looks better with the silver solder anyway.

Cleaned up the metal and put some rope on it.

I also resurrected the guillotine. It is shorter due to some of the parts having been used for other things but it still cuts melons with frightening efficiency.

Dancing Rabbit

2010-09-09T15:36:00.001-07:00

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to visit an intentional community along the eco-village vein called Dancing Rabbit.

http://www.dancingrabbit.org

They are located in rural northeast Missouri near two other communities. They are committed to creating an alternative to main stream consumer culture. The use of fossil fuels is discouraged as well as new building materials. Here are some pictures of straw bale houses they have built out of local materials and reclaimed lumber.

Summer update

2010-08-19T07:02:00.001-07:00

It didn't seem like much was getting done but I was wrong.

In July I took a 2 day class on straw bale construction. It was by the same teacher that taught the natural finishes class and although she has a lot of experience and is good with sharing it I was much happier about the hands on the other class had. The class used to be 3 day and losing a day was noticed. We did get to tour some pretty cool houses in various stages of construction.

Then the last of the siding was fixed. It doesn't look like much here but it is a vast improvement. Now the house can be painted. There was also an issue with the gutter that was leaking water back behind the soffit. I'm pretty sure the cause has been located and some flashing should fix the issue.

There is a curve in the transition between the kitchen tile and living room floor. This means that there is no way to buy a transition strip. The first thing that had to be done was that I had to make a decent router table. The straight pieces were pretty easy and although I've got to redo one that is too short they are essentially ready for varnish. The curved piece is a whole nother story. Probably should be it's own post once it is complete.

Some fun was had too. Got to go on two hikes so far this year. I'm looking forward to the kid getting old enough to come along. Next year or the year after?

EGG!

2010-07-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

The first egg was left this morning. It is speckled greenish/blue so it must be from the Araucana. When I checked their water and food this morning there was no egg but 30 minutes later when I came out of the garage there was an egg. I would have expected to hear her, maybe since the egg was small she didn't make much noise?

The bearded layer herself,

Said egg, (the flash washed out all of the color)

Edible 'weeds' in my yard.

2010-07-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

After pulling thousands and thousands of dandelions I finally broke down and ate some. It was pretty tasty, as far as leafy things go. While pulling other weeds I started wondering what else was edible. Turns out quite a lot. The chickens will eat most of it too.

Dandelion, Taraxacum Officinale

Purslane, Portulaca Oleracea

Pretty tasty, has a crisp lemony flavor. There were several plants last year but none growing this year so no picture.

Mallow, Malva Neglecta

I ate a couple of seeds and it made me feel weird.

Lamb's Quarters, Chenopodium Album

Prickly Lettuce, Lactuca Serriola

Suppose to be bitter and not worth dealing with the prickles.

Wild Lettuce, Lactuca Virosa

Also known as Opium Lettuce. The sap can be collected and dried to make a compound that is used as a sleep aid.

Pigweed,Amaranthus retroflexus

There are many species of Amaranth that grows in the western US and most are edible. I'm pretty sure there are two growing in my yard, maybe three. Retroflexus is the only one I'm confident about the identification.

Dill Weed, Anethum graveolens

Not really a native but it is definitely a wild weed in my yard now.

The end of blah

2010-06-16T09:17:00.001-07:00

It has been close to two months since I posted anything. An extended illness and spring business have contributed but mainly nothing has been finished enough to take a picture. That and I just didn't care. But now I care and respond with more than just 'meh' to the overwhelming list of things to do.

I did most of the wiring in the garage. There are shop lights and outlets hanging from the ceiling now. The outlet thing is a great idea that I got from way back in high school shop class. Yes, I've been waiting nearly twenty years to hang an outlet from the ceiling. Also finished the drywall in a corner of the garage and was able to put up a work bench and hang a bunch of cabinets in the corner. The garage is organized unlike it ever has been now. It was so inspiring that I started to make more cabinet doors for the kitchen. A race has started, will my son start crawling or will I get doors on the lower cabinets first? Right now it is looking like he is winning the race.

The garden has a bunch of tomatoes taking off, some peppers too. My initial planting bug got side tracked by illness so a number of veggies haven't been started or were just planted in the last week. The pea harvest promises to be disappointing this year. Going out and eating peas right off the plant was the highlight of the garden last year and I'll miss it this year.

The chickens seem happy. I've got a gross story to tell so if you have a weak stomach skip to the next paragraph. My compost turner was overly wet and the green to brown ratio was way off on the green side and well it stank, a lot, I'm surprised the neighbors didn't call the police kind of stink. So While trying to fix the compost turner (hint: drill drain holes in the bottom!) I was using a 5 gallon bucket that got infested with fly larvae. My first response was to drop the lid and promptly go back inside. After some refection I braced myself with the knowledge that maggots only like rotting flesh and that the chickens would like a tasty treat. Next came a lengthy process of scooping out maggots and rinsing them to reduce the chance of the girls getting botulism. The chickens LOVED the maggots. Every time I walk out the back door now the chickens jump up and run over to the end their run and make a hooting/honking noise.
It kind of made it worth the grossness. I fed them the larvae a couple more times but now there are no more maggots. I've started doing research and found that people harvest Black Soldier Fly larvae for their chickens and that there are plans for building harvesters and people that will send a batch of larvae in the mail. More to come as experiments progress...

http://blacksoldierflyblog.com/

The half bath has all of it's drywall up and the plumbing for the vanity sink has been installed. Just one last light finish coat of mud and a light sanding will be it before breaking out the texture gun again.

There was also an earth plaster experiment in garden that was a partial success but the three days of rain that occurred before I got to put the lime coating on negatived a lot of the work. This will eventually get it's own post.

And lastly the exciting part. The list!

Addition
o Find a heater option
o Raise bedroom wall
o Replace windows
o Rewire lights
o Check sub-floor
o Replace siding
o Backdoor, sliding?
o Walls, more drywall!!

House
o Sidewalk, mud jack?
o Paint outside
o Addition gutters
o Spread driveway gravel

Crawl space
o Seal vent cracks
o Insulate between floor joists
o Spray fungicide

House - inside
o Cabinet doors
o Grout fireplace
o Make floor transitions
o Paint floor trim

Bathroom - Half bath
o Install new vanity
o Light fixture
o Drywall
o Power; GFCI outlet and light
o Tile floor
o Re-seat toilet

Garage & yard
o Wiring
o Insulation, walls and attic
o Attic vents
o Drywall
o Build room in garage
o Stone paths
o Put up side fence & gate
o Trim branches on neighbor's tree
o Repair back fence

Mangos

2010-04-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

One day years ago I was in a creperia in Coyocoacan and they served me a crepe with mango jelly. It was delicious. I was surprised when it occurred to me that I had never seen or heard of mango jelly before. It just seemed like a given that it would be available. I mean mango jelly, just think about it. Then I started seeking mango jelly out. Telling anyone who would listen. All the while craving it. After looking in several dozen grocery stores and a few specialty stores I finally found some. It was good but halfway across the state and not cheap. Then the epiphany. I can make it.

Mango Jam

1 lbs ripe mango
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Put water and sugar in a sauce pan and boil until it thickens. Mash mango and puree into the thickened boiling sugar water. Boil for five or so more minutes. Pour into a jar.

I didn't let enough water boil off on mine but next time I'll know.

Coop

2010-04-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

The chicken coop is finally done. I still need to figure out a nesting box but I've a couple of months to work that out. They have a double pane window and insulation and it might be more sturdy than my house. Over engineered is the term that comes to mind. Moving it from the garage to the chicken run and up on the concrete blocks was an exercise in pyrmid technology. Levers and rollers and rope and such. The cement blocks are ugly and I've got a half baked idea on how to make em look better. One thing that was of concern was how to connect the chicken wire so that no animals could get in for a snack. The hardware cloth happened to be wrapped in wire and I was able to use the wire to sew the chicken wire together. It seemed pretty slick at the time, maybe I was out in the sun to long.

This site is a calculator for overhangs. Put in your latitude plus the hieght and width of the over hang and it will tell you what percent of the sun the overhang will block broken down by month.

http://susdesign.com/overhang_annual/index.php

With the chickens taken care of some attention can be paid to the house again. My dad was over earlier in the week and we spent half a day in the crawl space fixing wiring and getting plumbing ready for the half bath. About 4 more hours of crawl space fun and we should be done down there for good.

Spring also brings chores for the garden. Planted a bunch of tomato and peas and the seedlings are doing good. Everything else is going to get to grow in situ this year. Next year they will have a sun room and I'll be able to set out more than two trays.

Growth

2010-03-18T05:15:00.001-07:00

This is a 2 day old chick named Chipmunk.

A mere 4 weeks later she is nearly full grown and has lost her namesake strip.

Here for contrast is an infant of about 10 weeks who is at least 16 years from even remotely looking like an adult.

Soapy cakes

2010-03-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

Before I forget, again...

Pancakes:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 corn flour
1/2 white flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar

1 egg
1 1/4 milk/soy milk
3 tablespoons butter/olive oil
1 pear diced or blueberries or both

I had to go digging for my soap recipe the other day too. While I'm in a documenting kind of mood,

12 oz olive oil (non-virgin)
10 oz vegetable oil
12 oz coconut oil
5.2 oz lye
2 cups water

Mix lye and water and let cool to 120F
Heat oils to 120F

Combine and stir until the mixture traces. If you haven't made soap before do some research, lye is dangerous and knowing what is happening makes the process more fun. I tried using a hand mixer for the first time and it went great. Well, other than having some not yet saponified soap slash up and hit my eyelid. It only took about 15 minutes to trace than the normal 75-90.

For some reason I only made a half batch. It is time to set up some more molds so that I can do a double batch and my procrastinating will have less effect.

ponics

2010-03-06T11:51:00.000-08:00

A while ago a friend showed me the difference between his dirt plants and hydroponic plants, very impressive. The pile of trash next to it was less impressive. All of the nutrients came from bottles bought in a store and most fertilizer is made with a large input of natural gas. I was still surfing the web for hydroponics info and daydreaming about setting something up a little more earth frienly when I found this website.

http://www.trendgrinder.com/living-room-aeroponic-farming

The site very clearly makes a case for an aeroponic tomato business. Still with most of the drawbacks from hydroponics it leaves some to be desired. Even with grow lights they estimate you can make $750 a month as a part time/weekend business.

Not long after I started reading about a local thing called Feed Denver. They are using the techniques from the super cool Growing Power.

http://www.growingpower.org

Among the many things they do they grow fish and food in a system called aquaponics. The mixing of aquaculture and hydroponics. The beauty of this system is that the fish poo, effluence, fertilizes the plants and the plants filter the fish water. A good description can be found here,

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/information.html

I've seen sites that describe using fly larvae (you know, maggots) and extra worms from vermicomposting to feed the fish. Done right you can turn trash from local restaurants into fresh veggies and fish.

My yard is looking smaller and smaller.

Peep chirp peep!

2010-02-13T11:17:00.000-08:00

They are only two days old. Very cute.

There are 2 Barred Plymouth Rocks and an Araucana. The Araucana isn't a pure breed so there is no guarantee of blue eggs.

When I first became a vegetarian 12 years ago I told myself that I could eat chicken when I raised, butchered and cooked one. It has been so long that I don't want to eat chicken anymore. I'm pretty excited about the eggs and fertilizer though.

Yes, I should have painted it before putting the hardware cloth on.

Conclusions

2010-01-13T14:50:00.001-08:00

A piece of cedar fence post that was a bit curved on one end and so rejected from a fence project finished off the compost turner. With a proper crossbeam the frame is a lot more stable when over turning it for replacing the drum.

After compressing out the cracked that formed there was 18mm of space. That comes out to 9% so the mud in my yard will work for earthen plaster. Yay! There is quite a few items on the list in front of that though.

There are 4 drawer fronts ready for staining too. Nice weather makes a difference.

Midway

2010-01-09T10:58:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I posted progress. I was waiting for something complete to post but that just isn't happening until the weather improves. Next week should be in the mid forties so something might happen. Here are a couple of unfinished projects in the mean time.

In the summer compost breaks down pretty quick and a 5 gallon bucket lasted most of the summer. Then it started getting cold and I just had to come up with a better solution. First stop was craigslist.org, 2 steel 55 gallon drums for $30.

I cut a hole in the top about 12" x 12" and then cut out a larger piece from scrap sheet metal that was in my garage. Added some hinges and a latch that were from old cabinets that I cleaned up years ago and put some old paint on for a finishing touch. Sometimes it pays to never throw anything away. Also drilled some holes in the sides to let gases escape. I've a plan for pvc pipe with holes drilled in it to help get air to the compost, it's still a half baked plan though.

Mixing compost so that air gets in speeds the breakdown process and prevents anaerobic bacteria from creating methane gas. The next step is a frame to hold the drum on a pivot to make turning it easy. A few years ago I made a trebuchet and it was fun to play with but time to move on so the frame from the trebuchet will now be the frame for a compost turner.

The base will need new cross beams since the drum is much wider than the throwing arm was. Since trebuchets were medieval siege weapons I went with the old school carpentry and didn't use any glue or nails. That means that making new cross beams takes time and needs warmer weather. It is a simple enough process though. Drill two holes that are the width and distance of the tenon, as seen in the picture, then chisel out the middle. Drill a hole for the peg and then insert peg.

I saw a number of compost turners with plastic drums on the internet and it just doesn't seem like the plastic would hold up. In fact it doesn't seem like the steel will hold up so I reinforced the hole with a 3/4" washer that fits the 1/2" conduit pipe with a little to spare, I would feel better if the washer was welded on. 1/2" conduit seems like it is just barely strong enough, I wanted to start with something thicker but then I would of had to fabricate a reinforcement and it was cold in the garage. Why haven't I spent more time putting up the insulation and drywall in the garage? After putting up a 4x8 sheet of 1/2" drywall by myself on a 10' ceiling I decided to wait till warmer days and recruit some help. Anyway, the base will have wheels on one end to help move around the yard but also to aid in swapping out the drum. Once it is done the non-wheeled end can be upended to place the drum on the ground top up. Then the axle can be slid out and the frame wheeled over to a new drum where the axle gets put back in. More on that later.

The other project is earthen plaster. My yard is mostly clay and clay is a main ingredient in earth plaster but not all clays make good plaster material. There are some easy and basic tests that can be done to find out what properties a clay has.

This first test is to put some dirt in a glass jar with some water and shake it up. Then set the jar down for 24-48 hours and take a look. The sediment in the jar will give a rough idea of how much sand, clay and silt is in the dirt. The bottom will be sand, then silt and finally clay. This is almost pure clay. Sand will have to be added to make an earth plaster.

The next test is to make a box to test shrinkage. Some clay will shrink a lot when it dries and some hardly at all. My area is know for it's bentonite clay which expands and shrinks considerably with moisture and is a poor clay for plaster. This was some scrap maple from the kitchen cabinets and a couple of coats of varnish. There is currently mud drying out in it, since it is so cold it might be a few days before I know what kind of clay I have. As long as the clay shrinks less than 15% it should work for plaster. The test box is 20 centimeters long which comes out to about 5/8" maximum shrinkage.

Plaster recipes have anywhere between 2 parts sand to 1 part clay to 4 parts sand. Really it depends on the clay and the quality of the sand, river and beach sand should be avoided. To find the right mixture start on the low end and keep adding sand, take notes. Two things should happen when the right mixture is found. One is if you take some of the mud mix and roll it into a cigar shape, 1/2"ish round by 5"ish long and slowly push it off of your hand. If it crumbles falls apart add more clay. If it breaks about halfway you have a good mixture. If it doesn't break and just curls as it is pushed off of your hand then add more sand. Another test is to roll a half a handful into a ball and let it dry. If it easily disintegrates then add clay. If it takes pressure to break and crumble it is probably good. If you can't break it with your fingers then the mix probably needs more sand. It should also be mentioned that less water is better, add just enough to make the material workable.

The goal is to build a green house in the back yard out of earth plaster and then coat the outside in lime plaster. Really it depends on how long we will stay here though. It is fun to play with in the mean time though.

New skills

2010-01-02T13:13:00.000-08:00

The end of 2009 taught me a lot of new things. I learned how to change a diaper for instance. How to feed, burp, swaddle, console and dress an infant.

Drawer front and door how to.

2009-12-10T10:20:00.000-08:00

I wanted to do this all in one piece but the garage is frozen and it will be a while before work can continue. The following covers the building of 4 drawer fronts.

First the wood needs to be cut to length.

Next is putting the horizontal pieces (rails) through a dado blade to produce a cut that is as deep as the vertical pieces (stiles) are wide and 1/3 the thickness of the boards. The jig I made to help keep my hand away from the blade is blocking some of the view. This creates the mortise.

Then the rough tenon is created with a bandsaw. Bandsaws don't have the cleanest cuts so a little chisel work and sanding is needed. This could also be done on the tablesaw but I like having both set up and not switching back and forth.

After some sanding fit all of the pieces together and mark where the center of the corner is. Drill 1/4" holes (it hasn't been done yet in the picture) where the lines cross at the end of the mortise pieces. Then put in the tenon piece and mark the center on the tenon. Make a second mark about 1/16" or even less away from the end. Drill on the second mark. This will cause the 2 pieces to be sucked tight when the hole is pegged. Because of this trick I made the first several without any glue.

I'm tried something new with this set and used a plug cutter to make the plug. Before I was making dowels out of small pieces of walnut and that was just plain tedious.

Next will be the glue up, routering the back for the panel and putting in a panel. Last will be stain and varnish.

The first doors

2009-11-02T10:47:00.000-08:00

Little by little...

floors and trim

2009-10-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

The floor is done. The trim would have been done if I didn't keep cutting in the wrong direction. All that is left is some touch up paint, the transition strips and grouting the tile around the fireplace.

Floortastic

2009-10-22T06:44:00.001-07:00

The GFs (soon to be BM) brother used to have a job installing floors so he stopped by to help. It took a lot of the worry off having more than a wild ass guess in answer to issues that came up. The only floor I had installed before was a small room that was pretty square and I didn't really care that much about how it turned out. Unfortunately the floor stapler had to be returned before the job was done. It is surprisingly cheap to rent though so it isn't a big deal to get a stapler for half a day next weekend. The tile around the fireplace got finished as well, only have the grout left. I'm thinking about using all that cool stuff I learned in the natural finishes class and making a mortar out of clay and sand. More on that later.

Oh the anticipation

2009-10-15T06:30:00.001-07:00

Hiding behind a new coat of mud is the worst drywall job I have ever done, even ever seen. Knowing that it will be covered with tile and hating drywall the way I do there was just no way to muster anything resembling craftmanship. It's pretty amazing what drywall mud can cover though. I might stop trying all together when hanging drywall. If I've been livin' right the new floors will be in on Monday and I'll be able to start and maybe finish that next week. A little more tile work, the floor, some trim and buying a couch is all that remains between me and a day off guilt free laying on a couch reading. It is getting chilly out so a cup of tea and a fire in the background might be put in that picture. Last week the inspector gave the okay on the new fireplace and he didn't even mention that the rest of my house looks like a construction zone. Glad that bit of stress has passed. The fireplace works great and it doesn't take much wood to keep the front of the house toasty. The thermostat is a little to close to the front so the rest of the house stays pretty chilly unfortunately. Clearing out some of the scrap wood that I've been saving for the fireplace has already made some room in the workshop. All this effort and we are talking about moving with the kid on the way and all. Maybe the school district will turn out better than it seems on the outside.

All of a sudden

2009-09-30T16:13:00.000-07:00

Last week I put tile on the hearth and the paint elfs (my parents) stopped by to help with the living room. Once the inspector gives the okay for the fireplace the wall around it can be finished with tile and all that will be left is the floors. Well, and the door trim, and the french door needs some work, and the cabinet doors are still in progress, and the breakfast bar hasn't been started. Well it looks a lot closer to being done anyway. Put the order in for the maple floor today. The day of having a living room is near.

Distractions

2009-09-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

Nothing has been done on the house lately because I just spent three days doing something much cooler. The pictures are from a 3 day class called Natural Finishes. The class went over interior and exterior building finishes. Day one (and picture 1) earthen finishes. Earthen finishes are basically clay, sand and water. Straw, animal hair, cotton tails, etc. can be added as filler and to improve the structural qualities. My yard is mostly clay so I'm looking forward to making a greenhouse or cold frames covered in this. Day two (and picture 2) covered lime plasters. Lime plasters are similar to what you can find in most houses for drywall but have some additional qualities and some drawbacks. The biggest drawback in my mind is the cure time which can be several months for a thick coat, only a few days though to get painted or plastered over. An earthen finish coat covered in a thin lime plaster makes a durable exterior finish. Day three (and picture 3) covered paint like finishes. From milk based casein paint and clay based coatings that can be made at home to commercial products that can be ordered.

On the left the underlying earth coat can be seen and on the right is a topping earth coat with some iron oxide for color. The middle is a lime wash, also known as a white wash.

This is a lime plaster with a thin coat of pigmented water added before the outside of the lime cures. That is how frescoes are made.

This is a small square of sheet rock with a clay based paint.

Other peoples work.

2009-09-15T06:28:00.000-07:00

It doesn't look like anything to brag about. The new fireplace was installed yesterday. That means that the wall can finally be finished. In the upper left corner there is some paint visible from where the south wall and part of the west wall was textured and painted last weekend. The fridge got moved into the kitchen in the process. Now that is something to celebrate. Before I can use the fireplace and inspector needs to come and sign off on it. The next project will be to build a hearth and clean up for the inspector. Hopefully I'll be buying hardwood floors by the end of the month.

Grout

2009-09-01T08:59:00.001-07:00

The thing about grout is that once you start there is no stopping. Even two hours into it when you don't think that you can hold your arm up anymore there is no break because there is a time limit. Once the grout hardens it better be where you want it to be. I tried something new, it was a sealer that got added to the grout instead of water. It had very specific instructions on not adding more liquid but the bottle didn't have enough liquid for the grout mix. The thicker grout is mixed the more difficult it is to get it in the gaps between the tiles. All that is past now and there are only a few minor problems that will get fixed by the matching caulk that came with it.

Wood stain

2009-08-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

There are a number of finishing pieces of wood that will be ready to install in the kitchen next week. This one will cap the island wall. It was a shame to stain this piece of wood, it was so beautiful. The wavy cross lines are still visible but they don't glow anymore. If it was up to me all of the wood would be just sanded and varnished. Sundays goal is to grout the tile and by Tuesday I'm hoping to have 4 more drawers in. Wish me luck.

Drawers

2009-08-19T08:11:00.000-07:00

There is even silverware in them! 8 more drawers and 12 cabinet doors to go. But it feels good to have something look done. The counter backsplace can be seen in the picture too. There is just a couple feet of tile left behind the stove and the grouting can be done. Then it'll be like a kitchen, a kitchen with no cabinet doors.

Door and drawer faces

2009-08-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

Only 23 more to make!

Sans picture window

2009-08-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

After two days of work the old 8'x5' picture window is gone and a 6'x4' window is in it's place. I think the new window looks more inline with the style of the house. Not that you can see that in the rather utilitarian pictures. The trim needs some touch up paint (and the house needs painting) but the outside is basically done. The inside only has the first coat of drywall mud though. The only major living room construction left is the fireplace. The a wall of drywall and tile grouting. Then the wood floors and presto, a living room slash kitchen. It has only taken 11 months to get to this point...

Cabinet and tile progress.

2009-07-30T09:21:00.000-07:00

In my typical style a little of everything has been worked on with nothing finished. Some of the face frames have been stained, varnished and installed. It is hard to tell be the cabinet on the right has a face frame. The tile back splash design was finally decided on and almost half of the tile has been laid. The kitchen might actually be done by the end of August, yay! The big project for Saturday is to replace the 8'x5' living room window.

huerta

2009-07-20T16:48:00.000-07:00

Peas, zucchini, green beans, carrots, dill and spinach have been harvested so far. There is something very satisfying about walking out to the garden to gather some veggies as the start of making dinner. In case you are wondering about the title it is Spanish for 'kitchen garden'. The other morning I had a zucchini and carrot omelet with a tsatsiki like sauce. This place is about more than just remodeling houses, it is about making things and breakfast is a thing. So here is the tsatsiki-ish sauce recipe.

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cucumber, finely chopped
1 branch of fresh dill, tsp or so dry.

Garlic, lemon, olive oil and salt can also be added. It's good with hummus too.

In other news the yard is just barely looking better if you glance at it sideways. Some of the cabinet staining actually worked, some has to be redone. More kitchen tile has been laid. The front window is being replaced after all. The swamp cooler keeps coming up with creative ways to get attention. I might have solved the garage ceiling problem, more on that later. The garden sprinklers were completed with the addition of a pressure regulator.

Completely lazy

2009-07-14T19:08:00.000-07:00

Well, not really but it feels that way without the kitchen looking much different. Started staining the face frames for the cabinets but I'm not at all happy with the results. Here is a picture of the pea harvest instead. It is the third such harvest and zucchini have been harvested as well. Beans will be ready soon too. Nothing else exciting from the garden for a couple of weeks. The lack of visible kitchen progress prompted me to do some tiling on the island, that's what is under the peas. Now I'm off to lament the poor staining job.

An oven

2009-06-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

Dinner last night was made with two, yes TWO, burners! The hot plate has been retired. Time for some tiling. The face frames are about ready for staining, just a little more work to strip the first attempt.

phase 2

2009-06-14T16:04:00.000-07:00

It's an island! Some day there will be an oven and a breakfast bar too.

Distractions

2009-06-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

I've still been working on the kitchen but there has been some distractions in the garage. After reading about how to make a hollow mast for a sailboat I wanted to try it so I decided that the tile table that has needed a base for years would be perfect. It's called the bird mouth method. Take eight strips of wood and slide them through a table saw with the blade at 45 degrees then flip them over and do it again cutting out a 90 degree notch on one side. First I tried with a 90 degree router bit but they didn't come out very clean and well routers just aren't my favorite too. When done the strips will have a V notch in one side. This picture kinda show what they should look like.

Then line the strips up into an octagon. I wish I'd taken a picture of the glue up since I had such a hard time figuring out how to clamp it all together. Some places I saw used hose clamps but most places just didn't mention how. I ended up wrapping string around semi-loosely and then twisting sticks in the string to tighten it. After the glue up the corners that are sticking out need to be planed down. In the end you end up with a pretty beefy nearly round chunk of wood that is not only lighter but stronger than if it was a solid slab.

Cutting tile and cutting corners

2009-06-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

The kitchen came with some decent tile. It's one of the few things in the house that was not torn out at some point. When planning the new kitchen configuration I just assumed that I'd be cutting through the tile for the island wall floor plate. Cutting through tile turned out to be not that easy and it made a toxic awful smell. Seriously, I think my life has been shortened. And so enters the cut corner. I found where the floor joists were and drilled through the tile so that the floor plate can be lag bolted to the joists. A previous owner put the tile under the old counters so I put the new counters on the tile too. I feel sorry for anyone that will try to take out that tile.

Cabinets, new stain and a bumper crop

2009-05-25T17:10:00.000-07:00

My parents came up again and helped me install the wall cabinets. It turns out that I wasn't happy with the stain I had gotten for the face frames. It would have been nice if I decided this before staining all of the bottom cabinet face frames. I bought and tested (testing really, still putting varnish coats on them) several stains and the Ace Hardware Colonial Maple stain seems to have won the contest. I really like just the varnish but it doesn't go with the wall color.

The tall nettle there has grown even more since the picture was taken, it is now taller than the 6' fence behind it. Many of the prickly weeds got removed from the lawn yesterday but I just couldn't bring myself to take that one down. Couldn't figure out where to start... Speaking of growing things, the peas are doing great but every thing else has started to drown in the near two weeks of cloudy/rainy days we have been having.

Gutters

2009-05-11T17:03:00.000-07:00

The garage now has gutters which means it has soffits (and new fascias) which means that it is less drafty just in time for summer. Really it means that the garage is one step closer to being closed in with insulation so that it can be heated in the winter without just throwing money away. My job is an extra day a week now and I'm looking to buy another house so very little progress will be made on the homestead in the near future. Having to work 5 days a week makes me feel so defeated and downhearted that I've lost all hope of ever finishing this house. I know, whine whine whine. The plan was to get a couple of rentals going once this house was done so that I could quit this job. The plan is now to just get a couple of rentals going.

2 short

2009-05-02T16:16:00.000-07:00

Ran out of mastic with only two tiles left to install. Big milestone though. My parents were by today to help and we got the island moved out. Time to cut into the floor tiles to get the new island going. This time done right...

Minor stuff

2009-04-28T07:20:00.000-07:00

Things have been happening, just nothing that seemed complete or worth writing about. I've felt like the ADD poster child the past few weeks. Ten minutes into doing something I goto the garage for a tool, find another project and start working on it but then start to clean up the garage when I can't find something only to find another project to work on and evenutally I come back inside to get some water and realize that I forgot the tool that I went to the garage for in the first place over 2 hours ago. Perhaps it is time to get back to making lists.

The yard has 4 rasied beds and the sprinklers are mostly done for the garden and trees.

There are more cabinets in the kitchen but it is still lacking tile on the counters. That weird shape on the wall is test paint. The color was too dark but experiementing with painters caulk has proved the stuff to be well worth the effort.

I fixed a friends chair, built a bow and a cabinet on wheels in the garage. Spent several hours organizing the garage. Not that you'd notice in the picture. Much dirt has been removed as well, the 4 yards of topsoil that was delivered is now less than 1 yard. Next is to get gravel delivered so that the driveway will be less of a mud pit.

Nothing spectacular

2009-04-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

Jury duty ate up my Tuesday to work on the house. There was still enough time to move cinder blocks and dirt till I was worn out though. These days that isn't to hard though. It might actually snow this weekend so planting the garden is off but the raised beds are pretty far along and will even have a drip watering system. Once the garden is planted I can go back to working on the kitchen. The plan was to buy a rental house by now. Damn day jobs.

Oh my there is a lot to do back there.

2009-04-09T18:42:00.000-07:00

Here is my very sad looking back yard. The tree is a cherry and off to the right out side of the camera view is a pear tree. The concrete blocks are the functional and rather unstylish vetetable garden to be. There is about 3 yards of dirt still to move once the sprinklers are repurposed for drip irrigation. The triangle support things were once the legs of a trebuchet but the novelty wore off and now they will be the legs for a composter. The seeds were planted indoors last week and it looks like the nights in the low 30s are about over. Some of the fence blew over in a wind last month and some of the yard doesn't even have fence. Once all of the fencing is taken care of the doggy jail back in the corner will be removed and that space will become garden as well.

Boy is there a lot planned for this summer...

Pseudo

2009-04-01T13:35:00.000-07:00

Got the tile for the kitchen counter. Haven't really made much progress, I've been distracted. But I did get a pear tree, a cherry tree and a black berry bush. As soon as the snow melts I'll be able to plant them too.

Edit 4/09: What the hell is pseudo suppose to mean?

Kinda, but not really

2009-03-21T17:12:00.000-07:00

It's not really green. I swear. So far I'm pretty happy with the way it is turning out. Just wish it was going a little faster. One of the wall cabinet carcasses is done as well. Still need to pick out the tile. Better get on that...

Plumbing

2009-03-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

Re-did the plumbing for the hot and cold to the kitchen sink cabinet. I almost got away with reusing all of the parts for the new hot/cold lines but the tool for taking off the old PEX rings didn't fit into the fittings. Then after installing the cabinet up against the wall I realized that the cabinet actually needed to be a 1/4" to 1/2" an inch away from the wall on that side to due to a dip in the wall. Not sure how that is going to happen now. At least the valves are compression joints instead of soldered on. So tomorrow I get to spend half the day reworking what I spent all of yesterday doing. Well not all, I goofed off a lot yesterday. The other thing I've got to figure out is how to keep the wash tub that we have been using for a sink connected. Once the plywood for the counter is put on there isn't a whole lot of room. Maybe the sink will have to be hooked up after putting the plywood and cement board down in the same day. Wow, it's time to pick out the tile for the counter!

Kitchen ho!

2009-03-03T14:47:00.000-08:00

The dishwasher isn't really green, that's just the protective cover. The cabinets are progressing pretty well. So far I've about $350 invested in the cabinets. I'll need about $100 more to finish them. Maybe even less since I already bought all of the hardware. A lot of time will be invested in the project though. Just staining the face frame for the cabinet that is in has taken almost an hour and the job is only half done. I really don't want to be shopping for a house in the summer. I'm hoping that the kitchen will be done 'enough' soon so that I can start shopping for a rental.

Vacation

2009-02-25T09:44:00.000-08:00

It's time.

A year ago I was learning Spanish in Mexico City and now I'm sick of drywall.

Soffit

2009-02-19T13:38:00.000-08:00

For some reason the spell checker thinks that soffit is spelled wrong. The gf uses it casually so I thought it was pretty common knowledge since it refers to something she has no interest in. However, she has informed me that she learned the word through listening to me. Despite the spell checkers ignorance there is now a soffit in the kitchen. Two of the cabinet carcasses are ready to install as soon as the drywall is done. The dishwasher is patiently waiting in the other room for its chance to excel. The last time I live with a dishwasher other than myself was 16 years ago so it's kind of exciting.

Details

2009-02-11T11:28:00.000-08:00

One of those finishing touches that seem to take for ever. The window sills aren't done yet. The cat has a nice place to look out the window now though. They are made of pine with a stain named pecan that has polyurethane mixed in. The stain is a little messier than regular stain but I'd use it again.

The first base cabinet for the kitchen was finished yesterday. It was a learning experience, as in mistakes were made. Thinking about doing the face frames in maple since it comes pre-dimensioned at the depot. Tried staining some scraps of maple and I didn't like how any of it turned out. Maybe some more coats of stain will make a difference. This weekend the soffit for the kitchen cabinets will be going up. Happy V-Day, hand me that hammer...

Just how much is a level floor worth?

2009-02-04T09:24:00.000-08:00

The last few days were spent messing around in the garage. The weather was nice and the place needs some serious attention. It's a bit more organized and progress was made on some projects. The window sills are ready to be routered and the bases for the kitchen cabinets were made. Getting the bases level is proving to be a pain but it is one of those things that pays for itself later. Part of me wishes the tile floor in the kitchen was not there, sure it would be one more thing to have to do later but it would also be one less thing to work around right now!

Ta Da!

2009-01-27T16:27:00.000-08:00

Look, drywall! There is even insulation behind it. Need to make soffits and start on the cabinets. That room might just be a kitchen some day.

Kitchen

2009-01-19T12:47:00.000-08:00

The kitchen remodel is in full force. All of the counters are gone, 90% of the drywall has been torn out and the two windows have been replaced. There are a couple of wiring anomalies that made me glade to have torn out the drywall. Not only will the walls be insulated but the chance that the house will burn down has been reduced quite a bit. Live wires going nowhere, uncapped wires in metal boxes, joined wires without a box, old wires, etc... The mice should be blocked out by the time I'm done too. I bought a tool for crimping PEX and fixed a leak under the kitchen "sink". The quotes, of course, are to designate that the sink does not exist. Between the leak and just plain age there was a lot of mold behind the kitchen counter. The new wall will have some of that new mold and water resistant yellow drywall for the bottom 4' behind the sink and dishwasher. It sure will be exciting to have a kitchen, it's been well over 5 months now since selling my last house.

Why French?

2009-01-12T12:15:00.000-08:00

A lot to report and as usual the pictures will be late. The hall closet is done and more stuff got to be unpacked. Had an electrical scare. There was 2' of old wire between two sections of new wire so I replaced it. The breaker would flip when ever the lights that were connected got turned on. Turned out that the wire I replaced had no ground so when I hooked the ground up it revealed a short in a light. Bought a used french door that needs a little work but saved $300 and got the door installed so the poorly insulated addition that has no heat ducts is isolated from the rest of the house. The great room is much warmer now, 4-6 degrees. Also got an insulation blanket on the hot water heater and sealed up cracks in the duct work. The gas bill should go down considerably. Most happily I also got to spend several hours in the garage organizing and cleaning up. Perhaps fondling my new table saw too. It's so quiet, and accurate and big. It's going to be a great help when it comes time to make the kitchen cabinets. Speaking of the kitchen tomorrow is the official start of working on it. Time to rip things out. Oh and a new hall light to boot.

Table saw and some progress

2009-01-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

It has come to my attention that life just can't go on without a decent table saw. Just how can I live under these conditions? How have I lasted so long? Well not having a place to put a decent table saw and having an extremely crappy table saw has been the impetus (impeti?) that lead down this road. So to solve that I've decided on this,

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?keyword=105495&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

It has gotten great reviews, in fact I can't seem to find a bad review. It's cheap as far as table saws go. It'll do %99 of what I need in a table saw.

The hallway just needs some paint on top of that primer and the closet door needs to be centered. It could use a light fixture that isn't ass ugly too. Here's a picture from about two weeks ago and one from today.

Done, minus a couple of touches

2009-01-01T19:05:00.001-08:00

Laundry at last and the hallway is only one coat of paint away from done. The band saw is set up now too!

Stands

2008-12-25T10:28:00.000-08:00

Since most people have the past two days off of work it has been pretty slow. That gave me a chance to play with Google SketchUp and make some plans. Since the stands that go with a washer and dryer are outrageously priced I decided to make my own. These are pictures of the carcass, there is also a drawer and the front will be white melamine to match all the other white in the room. It's going to be unbearable in there. The stands are done except for the melamine drawer fronts.

They are made out of 3/4" birch plywood. They are joined with biscuts and the lower rails are reinforced with screws. A fully loaded washer weighs less than 300 lbs. so me and the gf got on one and rolled it around. That's when it became evident that the screws would be needed for the lower rails. Someday soon I hope to be doing laundry on top of 'em.

And done.

2008-12-24T14:14:00.001-08:00

It was actually done last week but I've been lazy. Worn out really but it all looks the same. Also found a picture of the bathroom at it's worst.

That's the insulation under the sub-floor.

Now I'm working on the laundry room. The walls are painted and the cement board is down. Just needs tile and some grout. Maybe some shelfs down the road when I've more time. As usual there isn't a picture yet...

PSA or some such

2008-12-19T10:29:00.000-08:00

Despite the work there just isn't anything that looks like progress to report. It's been friggin' cold and I can say from experience that tools in the -10 to 10 degree range make fingers numb. I've gotten frostbite enough times that my fingers and toes are a little sensitive. Why not wear gloves? Well I do with hand tools and the cold still seeps through but with power tools it is just a bad idea. If a finger hits a spinning blade it sucks but just that finger gets hurt. If a glove, or really any clothing, touches a blade there is a good chance your whole hand, or clothing appropriate body part, will get sucked into it. When I should be sanding drywall so that the hallway can be textured I've been messing with a side project. The new washer and dryer are the front load kind and they don't come with the stand. A stand for both is $300-400 and I decided I could make one for much cheaper. So far I'm about $75 into it and I've bought everything. The carcasses are done and I just need to make the drawers. I did a lot of searching on the internet and didn't find any plans for the stands, well okay, I found one plan but it sucked. Maybe there is some free software out there that will let me draw up some pictures of the stand plans to put out there. If all goes right there will be pictures of a textured hallway and laundry room, cement board in the laundry room and finished washer/dryer stands before the assault of commercialism ends.

Time

2008-12-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

Everything takes longer than first planned. Snow kept my helpers away. There was a significant delay in the bathroom when I realized how poorly the vanity light had been placed. Rewire, patch drywall, texture, paint and it is finally time to hang the medicine cabinet. There was an issue with the drain as well. I think that had more to do with trying to work while being sick. Had to make several trips to the store and start over twice since the brain just doesn't work to good while running a fever. The sink drain still has issues. The floor and shower tile both need another coat of sealant but the bathroom just about has a fork in it. The laundry room has a properly hung door and all the drywall that doesn't touch the door is done. The plan is to be reporting a finished hallway and progress on the laundry room tile a week from today. Sickness and snow permitting.

Yay progress

2008-12-03T14:39:00.000-08:00

Boo old plumbing. There is a toilet and vanity in the bathroom. The drain leaks because I didn't bother checking it while there was no drywall blocking it. Now there is so much in the way that I'm just going to pretend like it didn't happen until the weekend.

Check, check, check

2008-12-01T10:28:00.000-08:00

The list is looking better but not as far as I was hoping. Moved into the house on Saturday but the laundry room and hallway still need a lot of work. Oh, and those pesky toilet/vanity things, they'll be installed this weekend. Once the laundry room is done there will be a easy way to divide the house so that dust doesn't get into the living area. Taking a shower in the bathroom felt good after all of the work that went into it. Being in the crawlspace this morning trying to figure out why the heater didn't work on the other hand did not feel so good.

o ~~Bath tile Soap dish~~
o ~~Smooth bedroom walls~~
o ~~Bathroom ceiling~~
o ~~Bathroom floor cement board and tile~~
o ~~Texture bedrooms~~
o ~~paint bedrooms/bathroom~~
o ~~Half bath door~~
o ~~Laundry/half bath wall~~
o Drywall hallway and ~~laundry room~~
o Mud and smooth laundry and hallway walls
o Laundry floor cement board and tile
o Texture hallway and laundry room
o Paint hallway and luandry room

Here are a couple of before pictures in preparation of the finished pictures coming soon.

Words come later

2008-11-26T14:53:00.000-08:00

Tile, walls, walls and more walls

2008-11-17T13:15:00.000-08:00

A lot of progress was made last weekend. Most of the shower tile is in, the soap dish was the wrong color so that isn't tiled in yet. The cement board for the floor tile was installed. The walls are damn close to being ready for texture too. Putting the mud on the walls took me about 20 hours, sanding and sponging down the topping compound took me, my parents and the gf about 30 total hours and there is about 5 or so hours of work left. That was just for two bedrooms and a bathroom. There is a refrigerator (cooling beer and leftovers at the moment) plus an oven and dish washer that aren't connected yet. On top of all the progress last weekend cost considerably less than the previous weekend buying appliances and there is internet at the house. The WHOLE internet! The biggest disappointment to the weekend was that the 3 doors I'd spent so long hanging and trying to get perfect are out of alignment again... time for the hand planner...

As for the shrinking list,

o ~~Bath tile~~ Soap dish
o ~~Smooth bedroom walls~~
o ~~Bathroom ceiling~~
o Bathroom floor ~~cement board~~ and tile
o Texture bedrooms
o paint bedrooms/bathroom
o Half bath door
o Laundry/half bath wall
o Drywall hallway/half bath
o Mud/smooth laundry/hallway walls
o Laundry floor cement board/tile
o Texture/paint hallway and laundry room

By the end of tomorrow I'm hoping to be ready for texturing.

Lists

2008-11-14T12:24:00.000-08:00

This all needs to be done with 12 days to work on it.

o Bath tile
o Smooth bedroom walls
o Bathroom ceiling
o Bathroom floor cement board/tile
o Texture bedrooms
o paint bedrooms/bathroom
o Half bath door
o Laundry/half bath wall
o Drywall hallway/half bath
o Mud/smooth laundry/hallway walls
o Texture/paint hallway
o Laundry floor cement board/tile

Walls!

2008-11-12T13:39:00.000-08:00

Just a few long-assed days ago the walls looked like this.

Then there was 3 days of doing nothing but smearing joint compound on the walls and now they look more like this. But not really since the picture was before the topping compount.

I've got some time off in two weeks. The house has to be ready to move in at the end of it. Texturing all of the walls, tiling the bathroom and getting carpet in the bedroom are all that is left to move in but by no means all that is left.

What's not is sight?

2008-11-05T12:08:00.000-08:00

Like there being no 'i' in team there is no 'end' in sight. Work, work, work... Back in the attic to wire up lights for the closets. Back in the crawl space to wire up the hot water heater (yeah, not my first choice either.) It never seems to end. On the bright side most of the sheetrock is done and the bathroom is ready to mud, the heater works, there is insulation, the wiring is done, the closet has a door instead of a hole cut in the wall. Only 14 days for working on the house left for me before I've got to move in. Panic! I haven't even bought the tile yet.

Drywall

2008-10-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

There is new drywall hanging on some of the walls. It's a good feeling. Even though they are a blatant reminder of how much work putting up mud is they still look kinda like finished walls. Like progress instead of demolition. Don't get me wrong, there is still plenty of demolition going on. The kitchen and fireplace for example. But yeah, drywall, it's better than nothin'.

inch by inch

2008-10-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

The bathroom is finally ready to put the sheet rock back up. There is a new sub-floor and a new bath tub. There is a ceiling light and fan now too after hours in an attic with less than two feet of head room. The shower is going to get the new mold resistant yellow board and the rest of the room gets the regular green board. It seems like so much else has happened but it was mostly prep work and trying to track down the electrical wires. That involved putting a new hatch into the attic. The old one was no where near anything that needed to be accessed in the attic and in the middle of a bedroom. The new one is in the laundry room and near the wiring, the swamp cooler, even the heater flue. The tile I want for the bathroom floor has been hard to find. It looks like I'll have to order it off of the internet. White hexagon tile with black highlight tiles seems to be a restoration specialty that the blue and orange box stores or the tiles stores don't carry anymore.

Only 6 weeks left until I need to be living there. Ack!

How did it come to this?

2008-10-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

It's been at the back of my mind being denied acceptance, all the while knowing that it would come to be. There is a giant pile of drywall lying on the floor now. Since there wasn't any insulation in the exterior walls and most of them were being cut up for window changes I finally accepted the fact that all of the drywall on exterior walls needed to be removed. Now that the mess is out in the open, soaking up daylight so to speak, I can objectively analyze this issue. It will be easier to put in new drywall than patch old and it will look nicer in the end. Plus the insulation will be done right and I'll see what fun surprises were left for me. Like that mess of 2x4 studs that used to be a back door. The ugly fireplace was stripped of it's fake bricks as well.

Tomorrows goals are the last of the windows for this year and the insulation installation and a dump run. If all goes well there will be a trip to buy a bathtub as well.

So much

2008-10-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

The bathroom is gutted and ready to start being put back together. There was an elaborate window dance last weekend. Removed a small window from the second bedroom and put it into the half bath in place of the two single paned windows. Removed four single paned windows from the main bedroom and replaced them with two low-E energy star windows. All that also involved redoing all of the siding on that side of the house. There are two more windows that I want to replace and that will be it for the windows this year. After that nearly all of the drywall in the two bedrooms will be removed so that insulation can be put in the walls. That's right, there is no insulation in the walls. The attic could use some insulation too but first there is some wiring and fan vents to install. I've got seven weeks left to finish the remodel enough to move in. Kumbaya!

Gutter

2008-09-17T15:27:00.001-07:00

Step one is almost complete. Just a little painting on one side of the garage left. It took longer than I thought it would to repaint the trim with all the helpers that were there. There are now functioning gutters too. Now it's on to the missing structural wall in the bedroom...

Arggh

2008-09-15T10:58:00.000-07:00

In addition to the previously mentioned obstacles to my new house becoming livable someone decided to steal all of the copper out of the crawl space. This is going to be enough of a setback that I'm seriously considering hiring a plumber. I enjoy installing copper, it's one of my favorite DIY projects. There just isn't enough time though to replace all the plumbing in the house and move in before winter. This has led to exploring PEX though, flexible plastic tubing. One benefit is that no one will ever steal my plumbing again.

No longer homeless

2008-09-15T10:43:00.000-07:00

I bought a house on the 5th. Standard post WWII ranch style. It needs some work, well a lot of work. Gutting the bathroom, new cabinets in the kitchen, new floors everywhere, a wall... It's got a nice big garage (600 sq ft) and once the work is done it'll be a nice place half way between work and where I like to hang out. Many updates on the remodel to come. The goal is to be living there by the end of October.

To the bone

2008-07-31T13:22:00.000-07:00

So much has been going on and yet so little accomplished. Went on a trip to Alaska, moved out of my house, shopped for new houses, epoxied the kayak paddle, went kayaking for the first time, cleaned most of the crap out of my yard, spent a week sick. Everything I own is in half of a garage, never thought it would have fit. So that is why there have been infrequent updates. There should be a lot more updates once I start buying houses in town and have things to do again.

Juggling

2008-07-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

It's been crazy busy. In the middle of selling my house and buying a new one I decided that taking a class, committing to a 150 mile bike ride and going on a week long vacation wasn't too much to handle. The jury isn't in yet but there is a sense of dread building. Here'a a picture from near the top of the pass that the bike ride went over.

So close

2008-05-29T16:10:00.000-07:00

The painting is done. The garage roof has been replaced. The crap has been removed from the yard. The house is ready to go on the market. I'm meeting with a realtor on Saturday. It looks like I won't be able to buy a house until this one is under contract though. That sucks, most of the places I'm looking at need work and it would be nice to have some time to fix things before having to move all of my stuff into a construction zone. Perhaps I can do something not related to houses for a couple of weeks. Like training for the MS fund raising bike ride that I signed up for. A 150 mile ride and it is only 4 weeks away.

A new hat

2008-05-23T06:38:00.000-07:00

After four 10 hour work days with assistance the new roof is just about done on the garage. I will never roof a geodesic dome again. First off I bought 12 squares of shingles to make sure that I had enough and because a lot of the measurements were estimates and I didn't know how much overlap there would be. The roof only needed 9 squares. Then there is the annoying aspect that the shingles don't stay in place, most of the roof is steeper than a 6/12 pitch. Then after all of that work it doesn't even look very good. I've got to go and trim where the over lap sticks out. Only about one day of work left and the house will go on the market. Yay!

The garage

2008-05-13T11:06:00.001-07:00

The plans for this weekend are to re-roof the garage. As you can see it desperately needs new shingles. It's a geodesic dome. Not the most convenient shape for a garage. I'm thinking it is going to take 11 squares to roof it. That's roofer jargon for a 100 square feet. That is only a guesstimate on the surface area. Like everything in this house it will be an adventure. Can't wait to find out what is laying beneath to change the plans. Perhaps this time it will only be the weather. I'm suppose to be starting in 4 days but it just snowed. May 13th by the way.

May, may first.

2008-05-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

See what I have to deal with!

Long time, no writing

2008-04-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

The garage is finally above freezing more often than not. That still doesn't translate into getting anything done. There is a years worth of junk accumulation and sawdust to clean up first. I've managed to finally tune the bandsaw to cut in a straight line. I cut a 6' board into 1/8th strips with it for making a bow. This also means that when I move I'll be able to use it for making a strip canoe.

The gap between the heater chimney and the ceiling was finally fixed. After thinking about it for years I finally had an epiphany and fixed it within 24 hours. It just so happened that I had a sheet of 18 gauge steel on hand.

The yard is cleaner but still needs a ton of work, and trips to the dump. The next big project is to re-shingle the garage. It is a geodesic dome so it will likely have some unforeseen consequences like the rest of the house. It's about 1100 square feet of roof. I've been putting it off since it seems like a whole lot of work but I recently figured that doing it myself will save over $2,000 so it seems like a lot less work now.

The jalapenos are extra hot, to hot for breakfast.

jalepenos

2008-03-16T09:37:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that this plant is over 5 years old. It has nearly died on a number of occasions but somehow it keeps powering on. I repotted it a couple of months ago and it has rewarded me with a bumper crop of jalapenos. Previously the bush had only produced four fruit total and now there are over ten at the same time! As you can see through the window winter is still in full force. About a month more of snow.

Lack of projects

2008-03-09T07:20:00.000-07:00

There aren't going to be many project updates for a while. I started packing the garage yesterday in an attempt to make the house more presentable. There were a lot of inspirations in Mexico though. I'm a sucker for rocks and there was some neat tile work all over too. Perhaps I'll pontificate on previous politics, but I'll probably preview prior projects. Anyway... It looks like I'm going to entry the landlord business. The real estate market is just too good for buying at this point. Almost all my savings is somehow tied to the stock market as well and that is just an excessive amount of eggs in one basket. Once I'm living in a cheaper paid off house it might even pay enough bills to change careers to something that might pay less but be more enjoyable. Planning a lot lately, waiting for winter to end.

Vuelvo

2008-03-04T07:50:00.000-08:00

Mexico was fun. I learned Spanish. I'm pissed about being back at work. It is time to get motivated about selling the house. But first shoveling the foot of snow that landed on Sunday.

Excuses

2008-02-14T09:01:00.000-08:00

Here is a list of reasons that I haven't done anything.

I had a party
I've been dating someone
Most of my spare time is spent shoveling snow
The rest is spent studying Spanish for the trip
I was sick

It hasn't been a complete work stoppage, I did some caulking in the bathroom and hauled off some of the railroad ties from the yard. Only about a month till the house starts the going on sale process. Very exciting. If I lived about 2-3 thousand feet lower I'd put up with the driving and stay. A garden and a workshop are high on the list of new house characteristics. I'm tempting to live in the industrial part of town where the building codes are more relaxed so that I could build an addition again. This time CMU, semi-submerged, solar heated, greenhouse/living room. Someone stole my camera out of my truck while parked at work. That means no new pictures for a while.

Mexico City and Vegetarians

2008-01-30T13:34:00.000-08:00

It turns out that Mexico City has a ton of vegetarian options. Who would have thunk?

http://www.happycow.net/north_america/mexico/mexico_city/index.html

I'll have to hone my review skills. Only 18 days till the plane takes off. The excitement is building, I might even try to move the flight up a day.

In house news the room full of junk is being cleared out. I'm having a party next week and will need the space. Only thing is there really isn't anywhere for most of this stuff to go. The trash and Goodwill box have gotten a lot of new residents, not enough though. I keep thinking that what ever I don't get ride of now I will have to move in a few months.

Have paddle, lost the creek.

2008-01-27T09:01:00.000-08:00

It dawned on me that I have never actually kayaked today. I've no idea if this is the right size or shape or anything really. It's a neat woodworking experiment though. Making square things round and the attaching panels to it and still somehow coming out straight just doesn't seem right but somehow it is. Good practice for making boats where nothing is square or even on the same plane. All that is left for this project is to put epoxy on it, the pine is really soft and dents if you look at it wrong. It seems some fiber glass where the oar meets the shaft would bee a good idea as well. The shaft got a little skinnier than seems it should be. A belt sander would sure be nice for rounding out parts of the panel that I got sick of sanding but the no new tools till I buy a new house rule is still in effect. That will probably be when the epoxy gets put on too since it is way to cold for that and I'm not doing it inside.

Ramble

2008-01-26T05:40:00.000-08:00

The garage has been to cold to do much of anything. This has left me time to obsess about boat building, Peak Oil and play a few video games. Boat building is just going to have to wait until I get a new house and turn the garage into a workshop. One of the reasons I'm selling my house is Peak Oil. Not only am I sick of the amount of driving that one has to do living in the mountains but the cost of all that driving is starting to add up. I like riding my bike and walking, I even do that with no place to go. The other benefits are being able to have a garden and when just one part is missing from a project being able to just go buy it instead of waiting till next weekend. The biggest benefit is going to be living in a much cheaper house with a much smaller mortgage payment. I don't think my job will survive the economic chaos that rising oil prices is going to cause. Step one in my Peak Oil plan is to own my house without a mortgage. Step two is to learn new skills so that I'll have more employment options. Step three is to build a sailboat and move to the Pacific coast of Mexico. Well maybe that isn't step three but I sure day dream about it a lot. First the house has to be sold, a little over a month till it goes on the market. I'm pretty excited about that.

Windows

2008-01-23T09:02:00.000-08:00

They aren't fancy but they make a difference. A sheet of 2' x 4' Plexiglas and some 1" x 2" stock ripped down the middle and then slotted with a shallow cut from the table saw. The original plan involved a little more finish to make the frames more permanent but my table saw sucks, it really shouldn't be used for anything smaller than a 2x4 that can get by with a 1/8th inch error. Also I don't plan on living here next winter so there is no reason to spend too much time on it.

Mexico D.F.

2008-01-17T10:21:00.000-08:00

It was 1 degree when I woke up this morning. That's -17 for the rest of the world. And windy. Shake the house kind of windy. That same time in Mexico City the temperature was 48 degrees, it is already over the predicted high of 66 for the day. In exactly one month I'll be there instead of here. Learning Spanish and eating green enchiladas instead of fixing computers and blowing off the last steps to finishing the house.

Fuzzy no more

2007-12-24T12:35:00.000-08:00

A half way decent camera came my way, it being the time of year that it is. That means no more completely crappy pictures or at least no more crappy pictures that I can blame on the camera. Since I haven't been doing anything other than getting chemical burns from making soap and opening presents here is another picture of the cat. Maybe this will turn into a pet log, aka plog. It's not like anyone reads it anyway. Meow.

Living room...

2007-12-23T09:50:00.000-08:00

Look, it's almost like a house. Take away the construction crap and add the couch that has been moved back since this picture was taken and you might think this was a living room. Half of the room full of junk is back where it belongs. The sewing machine needs a new belt that I've only been able to find on the other side of town. Till then it makes a great laptop desk.

Last floor down

2007-12-19T18:59:00.000-08:00

The strangest thing about the new floor in the bathroom is that it is so much warmer. I put the bathmat in the laundry and expected to get frozen feet this morning after a shower; but no, it wasn't freezing. It's the same stuff as what was put in the room full of junk. The room is still full of junk despite moving quite a bit out.

El Gato

2007-12-17T06:46:00.000-08:00

One of the benefits of having a house that isn't in a complete state of repair is being able to have a cat. My friend ended up with six cats and the others weren't treating this one very well and he never left the kitchen. As a result of that I've only heard this cat referred to as the kitchen kitty. He finally figured out that he is the only cat here and seems much happier. Those two things in the back are doors that need to be trimmed to deal with the carpet. It has been unusually cold lately though and I just can't bust out the circular saw in the living room any more. The other day I started throwing stuff on the floor and suddenly realized that there is some retraining that needs to be done.

Are you ready for running out of oil?

2007-12-13T08:56:00.000-08:00

I found this on the web, it is going to need some modification for me. Once I sell the house and get something closer to town and at a much lower altitude this will be the next major project.

Individual Action Plan toward sustainability

1. Financial Independence. If I sell the house for what I bought it at this will be well on it's way.
2. Work with your community. I hate neighbors, in the seven years I've lived in my current house I've spent about 20 minutes of time talking to neighbors.
3. Control water usage. No yard and the water I do use is returned to the ground water after going through the septic leech field. This will change in the new house.
4. Collect Rainwater. This is illegal in the state of Colorado, but redirecting rainwater to a garden is legal.
5. Food Resource. Have I mentioned how hard it is to garden at 9k feet?
6. Compost. Already do this.
7. Composting toilet. Someday, but not in the city.
8. Waste Management. What were the previous two then? Someone really wanted a 10 item list. Out side of the remodeling trash I produce about a bag of garbage a month.
9. Heat. I want to start with a solar water heater and passive gain type stuff.
10. Cooking. I like to cook.

A moment to remember October.

2007-12-11T10:51:00.000-08:00

Remember fall? It was just a handful of weeks ago. The turning aspens, the crisp sky, sweater weather! The picture is from the bottom of my driveway looking up. That drive way is currently half shoveled out of a foot of snow. Sigh...

This is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth...

2007-12-10T06:29:00.000-08:00

There is a small drip in the hot water tap so one has to reach under the sink to turn the hot water on. Also the paint needs touching up around the grout since pulling off the tape took paint with it. I brushed my teeth in the bathroom last night though. I might even shave this morning even though I really don't want to. Now that the paint is dry and I had a chance to look carefully the two different sized tiles are two different colors. That's pretty annoying. I might have to start going to tile stores for these projects.

New stove!

2007-12-09T19:45:00.000-08:00

One step closer to world domination, or um, corn bread. This time there was no leaks after hooking up a gas appliance, yay! Converting the stove to propane was more complicated than seemed strictly necessary but it is done now and the hot plate can go away. Maybe I'll celebrate by finally making soap. The bathroom also has a medicine cabinet. Can't give everything away at once though.

List time again

2007-12-08T13:50:00.000-08:00

All in all this list is WAY shorter. The bulk of the work left is in the yard and that is covered in snow.

Outside
o Hinge pressure tank door. Put removable cover for garden hose hole in door
o Fill rock quarry hole - About a third done now.
o Remove last traces of failed greenhouse
o Take last of remodel trash to dump - About 3/4 gone.
o Put up driveway gate - Ten minutes of work left and still not done...
o Put more stairs on deck - Have all of the materials now.

Inside
o Replace stove - Now that the carpet is in the stove can be installed.
o Trim where the fireplace pipe meets ceiling
o Get rid of crap (never ending project...)
o Floor molding in hall to garage.

Bathroom
o Floor - Using the same tiles as the den.
o Walls - Just a spot over the door left.
o Sink cabinet - Just need to hang the medicine cabinet.
o Drain plug and lever.

Carpet pics

2007-12-07T10:31:00.000-08:00

The carpet installers did a great job. My house still smells like glue but I've been walking barefoot and have slept in my bed. It's like living in a house. I took several pictures but this is the only one that turned out well enough to see the color of the carpet.